Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has been delayed into next year

(Image credit: Fatshark)

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's grimdark co-op shooting will have to wait, as developer Fatshark has pushed the game's release back into 2022.

Initially penned for a release later this year, Fatshark today broke the news that (once again) our old friend Covid-19 has delayed a videogame release. Instead, Darktide will release "early next year", with plans to use the extra time to help shape up the game before launch and lay the foundations for future content.

"We have a responsibility to deliver the best game we possibly can, and frankly we need more time to accomplish this goal," Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund wrote. "It is no secret that building a game during a pandemic is a challenge, and we are not immune to this."

An update on Darktide's launch window pic.twitter.com/kY0GjmpZuuJuly 15, 2021

Building off the team's work on the Vermintide series, Darktide hopes to give Warhammer 40,000 the same bloody great co-op shooter treatment. The team has brought on prolific 40K writer Dan Abnett to head up the game's story, and if Vermintide 2's long tail of post-launch content is anything to go by, we can expect to be storming through Hive Tertium for a good while yet.

At least, we will when Darktide comes to Steam in early 2022.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.